Purity
by Tempest Dragon HB
Summary: People favor pure-types - that's all there is to it. But both White and N, two people who have never met, disagree with the current state of affairs in Unova. It only takes one injured Pidove for lives to collide and worlds to mesh, and one moment to undo and unravel a life's work - but an eternity to repair it. AU. Co-written story: Tempest Bound and Harvest Dragon. Rated T.
1. A Chance Encounter

**Purity**

_A Chance Encounter_

* * *

Perhaps, once upon a time, they were friends.

Or maybe they were enemies. No. Not enemies. How could he hate an 'impure'—as many fools put it—Pokémon? Allies, then.

N frowns as he pushes aside the thick grass, struggling when his bright white cloak gets in the way, to reveal a heart-wrenching sight: a wounded Pidove, cooing in pain, fluttering its uninjured wing fruitlessly. It starts at his approach with a weak cry, but after a few soothing words, it calms down, although it's breathing fast and its small heart beats wildly.

_Hurts, _it thinks, flinching as N touches the wing gingerly. _Hurts a lot._

"I know," he murmurs softly, gently lifting the damaged appendage. He winces on the Pidove's behalf as he sees the major third degree burn, turning the feathers to mere soot. "But I'm here to help, friend."

The Pidove doesn't seem able to decide whether to be surprised that a human—_a human—_is helping it, or that he can understand it. It coos, pitifully quiet, which comes out as a vague, _help_?

N smiles for a moment. "Of course." His smile melts away. He has no burn heals. The nearby berries bushes are stripped of their fruit. He sighs and unfastens the brooch, a shining Team Plasma crest, at his neck and lays out his cloak.

N gently nudges and shifts the Pidove so it is laying on the stark white fabric, ignoring the cringe-worthy amount of blood that seeps into it, and picks up the makeshift sling. With a gentle glance at the bird Pokémon, he turns himself around and starts towards the nearest town. Nuvema.

* * *

White hastens to fix the house, air out the dusty rooms that still smell like paint, and get her Pokémon outside so they can burn off some energy while she cleans.

Some might say that a sixteen year-old shouldn't be doing so much housework, but she doesn't want to take the chance. _They_ could be here any moment...and what would Mother say if she came home to a dirty house?

Nure, her Oshawott, steals her favorite seat—the day seat, looking out the window—and refuses to leave the house, just like her other three Pokémon. White lets out a somewhat frustrated sigh, but doesn't push them.

It's been difficult for all the inhabitants of the house.

White finds her Joltik, Zilt, trying to hoard electricity from an outlet, her ever-nomming Deino, Ahi, teething-but-not-teething on the kitchen chair's leg, and Rupture, her laid-back Drilbur, sleeping quite calmly on her dingy bed.

Then the doorbell rings.

Nure makes a vicious hissing noise that White swears only a Purrloin could possibly produce and jumps down from her perch, waddling towards the front door purposefully. She gestures towards the door dramatically with a white paw, chattering semi-agressively.

"Yes, I know there's someone at the door, Nure. Why don't you take everyone outside?" White says, patting the Oshawott on the head despite her obvious protests. Zilt makes a noise akin to a snicker before disappearing out the back door with a scuttle, as Rupture and Ahi glare after him.

"Now, you two—" The doorbell rings again, longer and more gratingly persistent this time. "Okay, everyone out, now."

Once her team is safely outside, White opens the door, dreading the person—people, perhaps—behind it. But she doesn't expect _this _guy.

* * *

N swears he's about to lose his _mind_ if he hears one more foolish question. Yes, he _wants_ the Pidove _healed_. No, he's _not_ crazy. _Yes_, this is his _natural_ _hair color_.

One boy in particular, with brown hair and hazel eyes and an aura of _incredibly_ ignorance and _idiocy_, seems appalled by N's intentions. "You would help an _impure?_ Only the _town freak _would help you with _that_." He gestures to the poor Pidove with evident disgust.

"Yes, I just want it healed." N scarcely breathed, for fear he might jostle the miraculously sleeping Pidove. "Who is this 'freak'? Where could I find him?" Perhaps this person has something N could use to heal the Pidove, since the small town obviously has very little to offer medically.

The boy barks out an unpleasant laugh, leaning against the doorframe of the house behind him with an attitude of supposed ease, but the nervous twitching of his hands betrays him. "He?" Another strange, unpleasant laugh. "Well, _he_ has the house in the middle of town. You can find it around the trees there." He gestures towards them with an apathetic hand.

N nods, bowing his head slightly in an almost regal way. "Thank you."

As he walks away, N doesn't see the cruel smirk the boy has on his face.

N finds the house rather easily, a tidy little white establishment nestled quaintly among red, orange and golden trees. The once-golden doorbell is now quite rusty, as if it hasn't been used in a long while, but the rest of the house is unbelievable clean. It's as if not one blade of grass is out of place.

N hears a few scuffling sounds, what he thinks is an Oshawott saying 'someone's here, White' and a couple quick Joltik snickers. Then there's a human voice, too low to distinguish properly.

N presses the doorbell again, apologizing quietly as the Pidove shifts with a pained look. He waits for another minute or so before deciding to seek help elsewhere, and that's when the door opens wide.

Standing in the doorway is a..._girl_, maybe a year or two younger than him. Her ice-blue eyes contrast mesmerizingly with her dark brown hair, tied up in a high ponytail. Thick curly strands have come loose, framing her face, and N wonders if she's just too lazy to fix it, hasn't noticed or perhaps did it on purpose.

Now N realizes why the boy had laughed at him.

"...Uh, hello." An awkward pause. "My name is N."

"N? Odd name. Oh, what happened to you, sweetie?" N thinks for a second that she's talking to him, cheeks flushing pink with surprise, before realizing she's addressing the Pidove in his arms.

He quickly regains his composure. "Yes, I was hoping you could spare me a burn heal...for him..."

Now the girl is leaning in quite close, stroking the Pidove's feathers gently, her brow furrowed deeply in concern. She looks up with a smile in her eyes before she opens the door wider. "Of course! Please, come in!"

N blinks at the strange and unfamiliar warmth in her voice, and obligingly steps through the doorway. The girl walks ahead of him, and he quickly notices she favors her right leg slightly. A short, thick and tapering scar runs across her lower left thigh, almost directly on her knee. N finds it looks a lot like a scalchop's mark and vaguely wonders why she's wearing such short shorts in such cool fall weather.

The girl stops in front of a table and smiles sort of sheepishly at him, and N realizes he had been scrutinizing her without realizing it. "I'm sorry. I haven't even said my name, have I?" she says with a chuckle.

N lifts the injured Pidove slightly, remembering what he came for. "Where can I put him down?" he asks her, a bit bluntly.

The strange girl strokes her chin thoughtfully with a hum and curls and uncurls her bare toes on the cool hardwood floor. "Right. Put him on the kitchen table. I'll be right back."

As she disappears out of the room without a sound, N gingerly sets the Pidove on the warm wood and strokes the bird Pokémon's head with a kind finger, earning a soft, sleepy coo.

The girl's head peeks around the corner abruptly, blue eyes bright with an alien vibrancy. "By the way, you can call me White."

* * *

**((Edit:)Tempest Bound: Let's try this again. XD Anywhoozles, most of you will not know me from my Harvest Moon fanfic, _The Shade Law._** **I'm pairing up with the amazing Harvest Dragon for this collab, and I hope you guys enjoy. Excuse my failures, and we should get along just fine. And about the Harvest Moon/Yu-Gi-Oh things, what HD said. 'Cause I'm lazy like that. Check HD out you guys! Seriously.)**

This is **Harvest Dragon**, co-writer of this fic, and I've partnered with the illustrious **Tempest** to bring you this lovely brainchild of hers. I'm really excited about this story, and I hope you, the reader, will enjoy it thoroughly! And if any of you like _**Yu-Gi-Oh**_, feel free to check out my page. For your _**Harvest Moon **_needs, I suggest a good dose of **Tempest Bound**. :)

Review?


	2. Burnt Wing

Chapter Two

Burnt Wing

* * *

For perhaps the first time in her young life, White is beyond words.

Her various labels, such as the "impure lover" or the "dual witch" (to name a few favorites), are usually all that people who find themselves in Nuvema need to hear in order to promptly head the other way. At first, being avoided like a deadly disease stung quite badly, especially since she has no one to run crying to, but living with her quirky band of Pokémon friends has gradually healed those smarting wounds. Even the wayward, snarky and unconcealed comments she hears when out gathering her daily berries don't bother her anymore.

But never has White dared to _dream _that someone else out there would _openly_ show concern for a dual-type. There are others who don't approve of the "Purity Plan," but of course, they just stand by and do _nothing_, because of what _will_ happen if you dare protest...

All-in-all, White isn't sure whether to begin bursting into a thousand pieces with excitement or thoroughly and skeptically question this strange-haired and seemly awkward fellow, who had come bearing this pitiful and ailing Pidove, but she knows that either way, she's going to squeeze something out of him.

Speaking of which, the Pidove looks more ill then this "N" suspects. And that worries her quite a bit. Grabbing a soft yellow blanket from a nearly empty cupboard (she reminds herself to finish the laundry she had nearly forgotten because of this whole fiasco), she squeezes it in a strangely fond manner with a blithe smile before quickly returning to where the strange man awaits.

"Could you lift him very slightly?" she inquires, her blue eyes now alive with a wonderful intensity, and N quickly consents to her request with gentle hands. After she slips the blanket under the Pokémon, she thoroughly examines the heavily damaged wing with dimming eyes and shakes her head very slowly. "Mmm. Not good."

"What's wrong?" N can't help put press. White doesn't meet his eyes; she only turns to disappear again. "Wai—"

White flings open the back door and by-passes her wondering Pokémon to crouch by her berry bushes, muttering to herself as she diligently searches through her plants for the object of her hunt. N watches after her with a completely lost expression, his words dying on his tongue, and he leans back against a wall with a sigh.

Nure waddles up to White, the Oshawott's whiskers slightly drooped, as if to indicate her less-than-positive feelings about being abruptly shoved outside with the others. Then her stony expression melts into plain curiosity. She tugs sharply on White's shirt with an inquisitive chatter, and the girl sighs through her nose in agitation.

"Rawst berry," is all she mutters, going back to looking frantically.

Nure immediately sets about searching, her whiskers twitching ever so often, as White scrutinizes her garden in search for the perfect fruit.

Ahi occasionally casts blind glances in their direction while maintaining a steady lookout on the hyperactive Zilt, who has found pleasure in pelting poor Rupture with various sparks that are immediately neutralized on contact.

"Found it!" White's triumphant cry makes her Pokémon jolt, and she hurriedly rushes back in, the slight lameness in her leg now more obvious. Nure looks on with a strangely regretful light in her eyes that quickly passes away before turning to the Pokémon staring at her expectantly.

_"Zilt," _Nure says with a commanding tone. _"Quit being a kid and leave Rupture be!"_

The Joltik gives her a pouting look, blinking all of his eyes languidly. _"You're no fun,"_ he whines, but ceases his sparky assault on the half-awake Drilbur and sits miserably on his haunches.

_"I didn't mind, Nure,"_ Rupture says with a sleepy yawn, cracking open an eye to take in the scene._"My skin... neutralizes electricity... anyways."_

_"He's old enough to act like a sensible Pokémon,"_ Nure retorts coolly. _"Not like an Eggling."_

_"Relax, Nure."_ Ahi throws her a playful grin, and Nure gaze turns downright icy. _"He's just freer than you are, is all."_

The serious Oshawott grimaces at him before turning her back on the Deino. _"In this world, you can't be free if you're not strong __**and**__ disciplined."_

Ahi shakes his head hopelessly as his grin slips away. _"There you go __**again,**__"_ he mutters, turning away from her with something between frustration and disappointment. He looks off in White's direction with an inquisitive hum. _"I wonder..."_

_"Hey..."_ Rupture interrupts his musings with another yawn, _"where's Zilt?"_

White, meanwhile, is back in the kitchen area, mashing up the Rawst berry in a hand-carved wooden bowl with a such frightening intensity that N can't help but feel uneasy.

"Is there...anything I can—"

White turns around abruptly, her blue eyes crackling with an untameable energy that gives N the strangest sense of déjà-vu. And _not_ the good kind.

"Shh," is the only sound she makes, before returning to the Pidove's side. With a fluid motion obviously put into practice many-a-time, she opens the beak of the Pidove and tilts the Rawst paste into its mouth, not flinching while the bird Pokémon hacks and complains with half-choked squawks.

N opens his mouth to protest, but the look in White's eyes persuades him to keep his peace for the moment. The Pidove's objections soon fade, and White turns her attention towards its severely damaged wing.

"Did you have any part in this?"

N looks at her, aghast. "How could I?"

White chuckles quite humorlessly. "Look around."

N bites his lip and tries again. "What's wrong with him?" he asks, his gray eyes imploring, and White gestures to the Pokémon's wing.

"Third degree burn, inflicted by a pure fire-type Pokémon," she rattles off. "Either trainer commanded, from the severity of the burn, or unnaturally hostile. Unusual charring of the wing..."

N watches her sigh sadly. "It'll take a few days to recover completely," White says with a shake of her head, and she throws him a somewhat forced smile. "Mind staying close for a few days?"

"Of course," N replies immediately, and White's almost cynical expression changes to a pleasantly surprised smile in a moment.

"Well, then—"

With a jolt, N feels a painful shock run through his body, and his body freezes up with paralysis as a juiced Joltik drops down from the ceiling with a distinct snicker. _"Sucker!"_ N picks up, as White stares wide-eyed at the scene before her.

"Zilt!" she says with a reprimanding tone, and the mischievous Pokémon suddenly looks very cowed. "I told you to stay in the back!"

Nure and the other two Pokemon round the corner at that precise moment, and White sighs with a shake of her head. "Why don't you guys ever listen to me?"

Nure glowers at N with distrust. _"Who's the human?"_ N hears her chatter, pointing at him with a paw in evident disgust as sparks fly off him.

"Don't worry," White replies with a small smile. "He's a... _good_ one."

_"I hope you're right,"_ Nure says skeptically, with a pointed glare at N, before waddling back towards the Pidove and White. _"They aren't many to be trusted in this world."_

_"Relax, Nure,"_ Zilt pipes up, only to be stared into another meek silence by all three other Pokémon._"Sorry."_

N is speechless for a few moments, due to more than one kind of shock. Not one, or two impure types, but soon-to-be _three_? Absolutely unheard of! If this strange person has anything, it's most certainly guts, and lots of them.

_"I think... he looks... trustworthy...,"_ Rupture yawns, her wise eyes somewhat bleary, and the other Pokémon scrutinize him hesitantly.

_"If he values his life—"_ Nure unsheathes her scalchop and points it balefully at N, _"—he'll do more than look it."_

_"Calm down, Nure,"_ Ahi chides with a carefree grin, earning a deadly and disapproving look himself, but nevertheless she tucks her weapon away with a low guttural sound that makes N flinch.

White is not-so-blissfully ignorant of the exchange of events, looking over the Pidove with a deeply troubled expression as she turns its wing this way and that. The injury is still red and blistering, hot to the touch and still moist with fresh blood. The Rawst berry's healing power should have at least smoothed the burning, but the Pidove still looked very much in _pain_.

"What's wrong with this burn...?"

N looks up from the drama unfolding at his feet to look at her, his gray eyes inquisitive and worrisome. From the look of White's face, this injury was _much_ graver than a bad burn, and he couldn't help but feel _anxious_.

"Uh...White..."

She abruptly jerks her head up to look at him. "Come back later."

N closes his mouth mid-sentence with an audible snap, and with the glare of a hostile Oshawott speeding his way, he makes his way to the door and exits the house with a final backward glance at this strange girl.

"When can I...come again?"

She doesn't look up. "Tomorrow," is her reply, and the door is shut mercilessly in his face. N blinks, as if waking from a dream, and feels at his collar.

"My brooch..." he says just a mite absently, his feet taking him away, and he looks back at the house over his shoulder, with a strange expression. "She seems so familiar..."

As he passes through the trees, a quick and semi-sinister snicker alerts N, and he looks up to see a pair of vibrant blue eyes peering down at him. The green-haired youth allows a small smile to cross his lips, and he lifts his right hand in greeting.

"Following me again?"

* * *

**Harvest Dragon**: Aloha! **HD** here, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I AM one to ask without mercy, so read and **review**. It's the foolproof way of making a story you like better. Sayonara, me lovelies. ¡Luego te veo!

**Tempest Bound**: Hey, guys, and say hello to chapter 2! Now, I'd love it if you guys reviewed, but I'm not one to beg. So R&R if you want, and hope you enjoyed!


	3. Shadow Bond

Chapter Three

Shadow Bond

* * *

White takes in a deep and slightly shake breath as she leans against the door, her face looking quite pained and miserable, and instantly Nure is at her side questioning in an abundance of chatters.

"_Did he try to hurt you?" _The Oshawott seems ready to tear like an angry Tauros out of the house and fulfill her menacing promise. _"I told you, White; he shouldn't have been trusted—!"_

The girl lets out the air in her lungs with a quiet whoosh and pushes herself away from the support of the door. "Nure, he didn't do anything to me. Now please...put away your scallop. You could hurt...someone."

Nure didn't even realize she had drawn her deadly sharp weapon, and instantly felt abashed at her poorly timed instinctive reflex. She guiltily puts away the razor-sharp shell and notices that Ahi and the others were immaturely crowding at the other side of the hallway, obviously eager to find out what had transpired.

_"What is it then, White?"_

White brushes off non-existent dust from her worn and faded jean shorts. "Don't worry, Nure. My little injury was just...acting up again." She claps her hands together, not noticing the self-loathing glint in her Oshawott's eyes, and starts to limp towards the kitchen with as much bounce as she could muster. "Let's go check up on our poor patient, shall we?"

* * *

N stares at the unmistakeable, completely unblinking ice-blue eyes of a Zorua, allowing himself another small smile when the Pokémon releases another somewhat sinister snicker. The illusionist fox peeks his head out of the foliage, squinting from the dying sunlight seeping in from in-between the leaves. _"How'd you notice me, N?"_

"You laughed, my friend. It's hardly difficult to hear it in such a quiet forest."

The Zorua completely wiggles out from his hiding place, sighing deeply. He stretches in an almost Liepard fashion on a branch in the warmth of the sunset. _"You always ruin my fun."_

N sighs as he notices the quickly approaching dusk. He would either need to find a place to stay the night soon, or he _could_ always sleep outside with his friends. "Why are you here? Did Father send you?" he inquired the Pokemon.

Kage's mischievously warm gaze ices over in an instant. _"That old man? I would hardly take orders from the likes of him! Nah, I just wanted to see where you were traipsing off to again. Why are __**you **__here, anyhow?"_

N pauses for a moment. "I...found an injured Pidove, and when I realized I couldn't heal it myself—"

Kage sits back on his haunches with an air of boredom. _"—you brought it here to find help,"_ he finishes, daintily cleaning his paw with an air of arrogance. _"I should have guessed it was because of an impure. Oh look, I ripped a claw."_

N grimaces with a shake of his head, remembering why he had left the rather fickle Zorua back at the castle in the first place. "Friend, you shouldn't talk of others as 'impure'—" he stops mid-lecture, realizing the implications pf what Kage had nonchalantly said. "A ripped claw? Why didn't you tell me that you were injured sooner?"

Kage, staring intently at his bloody claw, makes a motion closely resembling a shrug. _"You seemed kinda busy. Hey, where's your ugly old cloak...and that Plasma brooch that __**'Father' **__gave to you?"_

N groans as he realizes he has forgotten his cloak at the girl's quaint house, but is stills unsure of where his brooch has gone off to. "Never mind that for now.. You're hurt, so let's get you healed."

Kage leaps down onto the dirt, wincing as his hurt claw touches the ground. _"Where? There's no Pokémon Center around this pathetic excuse for a town!"_

N smiles half-heartedly. He has no doubt in his mind that any Unovan would jump at the chance to help a pure-typed, semi-legendary, but he doesn't want those hypocrites to lay a finger, however well meaning, on his cynical yet endearing childhood friend. "We're going to go see someone I met."

* * *

White is leaning over the ailing Pidove, whom she has dubbed 'Kizuna', applying a burn heal to his injury. Kizuna weakly struggles ever so often, but he has fallen into a rather fitful sleep for now.

The doorbell rings for the second time this day.

Sighing, the girl commands a sleepy Rupture to keep watch over Kizuna and walks to the door. As she opens it, she is greeted by the sight of a too-familiar face.

White glares at him as curls and uncurls her toes unconsciously. "What are you doing here?" she snaps testily. "I said to come back _later_!" She's about to close the door again, but the pleading look in his grey eyes stops her for a precious moment.

"Yes, I remembered what you said, and this might seem too redundant, but I...found a hurt Pokémon," N says in that quick way of his, gesturing to the Zorua, who flashes a sharp-toothed, canine grin, as if on cue.

"Another?" White asks in disbelief. Her mouth shuts firmly when she notices the specific type of Pokémon it is. "It's a _pure_ Pokemon."

N seems a bit taken aback by the icy statement. "Well, yes, he is, but I thought you—"

White narrows her eyes and feels Nure's warm fur brush her leg. She doesn't have to look to know that her team is behind her. "Thought what? That I would offer help to it, too?"

N swallows hard, feeling a sense of justified dread as her team eyeballs them none-to-kindly. "Yes."

White suddenly smiles wide, letting the door open and openly laughing at his nearly terrified face. "Well, come on in already!" she says with a teasing tone, turning back towards Kizuna.

The Zorua, silent until now, lets out a signature snicker. N looks down at him with a quizzical expression. "What now?"

Limping in after White, Kage releases another snicker, louder and more mischievous. _"I knew she was lying~"_

N stares after him with confusion, but quickly regains himself and follows the two inside. He tries to ignore the openly hostile and aggressive glares Nure frequently sends his way and the slightly more curious gazes of the rest of the rather mismatched team.

Kage rolls his eyes in an almost human manner before promptly plopping his rump on the floor, directly within the middle of the traffic in the kitchen. White notices the Zorua's abrupt stop and turns around with concern. "What's wrong?"

Kage pulls a perfect impression of pleading Lillipup-eyes, widening his blue irises to extreme sizes, and whines in a deceivingly sweet way. _"Pick me up and bring me to the table. I'm lazy and I think you could afford to work harder, lady."_

White's eyes widen, assumedly in pity, as N resists the urge to face-palm. Kage is already up to his usual tricks, knowing whoever his victim is can't understand his Pokémon voice and gladly uses the pleasure of abusing them without their knowledge.

Leaning over, White's eyes turn as hard as flint, Kage seems horribly surprised at the words that come out of her mouth. "I most certainly will not, mister. Walk your own lazy rump to the table before I _kick_ it there."

Kage, under the somewhat flabbergasted gaze of N, shifts a bit nervously. _"Y-You can understand me?"_

White grins like a Cheshire and starts walking back to the table. "Yup. Pokémon isn't _too_ hard to learn."

By now, the room is filled with the obnoxious chattering of a Joltik's poorly contained laughter, and the Zorua opts to timidly walk to his seat, clambering onto a chair with his other good paws. He sits on the table with a rather morose expression as White leaves the room, N lagging behind her.

"_I can't believe you thought you could fool White!"_ Zilt squeaks to the Zorua after both of the trainers are gone. _"She really got you too!"_

Kage growls menacingly at the spider Pokémon, swiping the air between them warningly with his good front paw. _"Don't talk about it, six eyes."_

Ahi grins at him. _"Oh, come on; don't be a sore sport. The world would be a sad place if we were __**all**__ like Nure."_

The said Oshawott proceeds to hit him across the head with brutality. _"I heard that, Ahi."_

Ahi doesn't seem affected by the none-too-friendly clot. _"See what I mean?" _he quips teasingly_._

"_Shut your mouth, or I'll gladly do it for you."_

Zilt releases a spontaneous crackle of electricity, earning an annoyed yelp from the finicky Zorua. _"But, seriously, you actually thought you could trick White? As if!"_

Glaring in an almost hungry fashion at the Joltik, Kage hisses in evident frustration. _"Most humans are __**stupid**__ enough to fall for it."_

Nure gives Kage a one-over with her critical black eyes and shakes her white head hopelessly. _"Well, White isn't __**stupid**__, pretty boy."_

The Zorua seems a bit flustered at this barbed comment, and he doesn't quite meet the tough Pokémon's glittering eyes. "Don't get your scallops all chipped up. It was just some harmless fun, is all." He meets her gaze for a moment, his tail lashing back and forth nervously despite his deceptively confident tone.

With a grimace, the Oshawott rolls her eyes. "You fit right in with those lot," she says clippedly, gesturing to Zilt and Ahi quite frigidly with her white paw. "You're almost their level of _childish_." she spits the last word out like a contagious disease. "Excuse me, before I catch your _boyish_ immaturity."

Kage seems a mite subdued as Nure waddles pointedly away to the other side of the house, while Ahi watches after her with evident exasperation on his face. "_She's_ _frosty_..." the fox trailed off, not sure whether to admire such an assertive Pokémon or openly cower in her presence.

_"Did you meet him on the road?"_

Kage jerks his dark head at the Deino's voice. _"Huh?"_

The Deino smiles at him. _"N. Did you meet him on the road? Did he just find you? What happened to you?"_

Kage looks at him, his usually proud gaze suddenly very defensive and almost cowed. Ahi, though unseeing, seems to pick up on the illusion fox's sudden discomfort, and shakes his head with a pardoning grunt. _"Never mind me."_

Rupture rolls over in her sleep, her watch over Kizuna apparently finished. Ahi begins to chew on a chair leg, sighing with the pleasure of relieving his teething tendencies. Kage realizes he never exactly looks at anything head on—just slightly to the right or left, but never straight-on. _"Are you...blind?"_

Zilt has taken to hoarding static electricity from the Kage's proudly fluffy mane, ignoring the fox's blatant barks and attempts to paw him off. Ahi grins in their direction, gnawing away on his chair leg. _"Yeah, I am. All Deinos are, actually. Don't you know that?"_

Kage glares at him, momentarily halting his attempts to remove the tiny Joltik from his dark fur. _"Y-Yes, of course I do! Don't be blin- I mean, stupid. I just thought you seemed different than all the __**other **__Deinos I've...met."_

Ahi tilts his head thoughtfully, before returning to chewing more vigorously . _"I...guess you could say that-"_

A shout rises from the front door, capturing the attention of all of the Pokémon in the vicinity. "White, open the door! Bianca and I need to talk to you!"

Zilt squeaks nervously and releases a spurt of defensive electricity, violently shocking Kage once more. _"Quit the electro-therapy, six-eyes!" _Kage snaps.

A black-haired youth slams open the door without invitation and stares at N with wide-eyes, before looking at White with a demanding expression in his blue eyes. "Who is this guy, White?"

* * *

_**Tempest Bound:**__ Sorry for the wait, guys! Trouble with writing and such (mostly my fault, actually). Wish me luck for my very stressful week ahead of me!_

_**Harvest Dragon:**__ Merry Christmas, ya'll. This should have been published way earlier...that's my fault. I'm sorry! Read and review, ya?_


	4. Friends

Chapter Four

Friends

* * *

White wills herself to not panic. After all, why should she? It's not like she has anything to hide—Cheren's not her mother. Why should he care whether there is a grown man with strange lettuce-esque hair and dead gray eyes in her house?

Oh, right. They're friends. Which isn't something White can say she has too many of.

Cheren scowls at N from over the rim of his glasses. "White, who in the world is this?"

"He's just a...guy, Cheren," White says rather lamely, vainly hoping to ease the tension outof the awkward situation. "He won't hurt my Pokemon."

"Yeah, Cheren," says Bianca breezily, giggling like a young girl. "I'm sure White doesn't need you to try and act like her mother..."

White's face goes blood red, and Bianca shuts her mouth instantly, looking extremely regretful. They all know about her family situation, and how touchy a subject it is. N, who was still utterly silent, shifts around like a restless Buneary.

"More on topic," Cheren says, with a pointed glare at the seemingly indifferent man, "we needed to talk to you, White."

White musters up a blithe smile. "I gathered that from you blowing your top and bursting in here _without permission._"

"Sorry about that," Bianca cheerfully chirps, her uncharacteristically subdued facial expression perking back up, "but it's really, super-duper important."

"Well, spill it, then."

"We're," Cheren starts, pausing long enough for White to awkwardly fidget from foot to foot, N to gaze at all their faces for an uncomfortably long time, and Bianca to giggle excitedly, "going on our Pokémon journey."

White places a hand over her heart in mock relief. "You had me worried there for a second," she jokes, I thought you were going to say you two were engaged or something."

Cheren let out an unholy sputtering as Bianca turns a beautiful scarlet, the former nearly choking on his incoherency and the latter reduced to silence. "What?" Bianca manages to squeak out, her eyes wide.

"Just kidding." White laughs teasingly. "That was priceless, though. Makes me wish I had a camera, to frame those faces on my wall!"

"White..." Cheren chides maturely, although his pale cheeks are still flushed from her incredibly childish teasing.

White tries to suppress her tinkling laughs. "But is that really all you came for? To tell me you're finally starting something you should've done at least four years ago?"

Cheren clears his throat, fiddling with his rims in a nervous sort of manner. "Actually, no, I - we were hoping you..." he falters briefly.

"We were hoping you would come with us!" Bianca blurts out. Seeing the sudden paralyzing apprehension on White's face, she adds hastily, "It'll be fun, White!"

"I can't." What if _they_ were to come home while she was away?

"Why not?" Bianca whines clamorously, as N moves towards the back as subtly as a ghost Pokemon.

Cheren sighs with obvious annoyance. "You can't seriously be thinking your parents would come—"

"That's not _it_," White snaps, although her cheeks turn a guilty scarlet at the dead-on remark', "I've got other things to do here-"

"Like be taunted by the townspeople? White, you have to start living your life now and stop trudging in the pa—"

"I have to take care of this injured Pidove, okay?" White feels thankful, although for a terrible reason, that she does actually have to nurse the Pokémon. "I have to take care of this house and my Pokémon and, and—is that _mud_ on my _floor_?!"

Cheren and Bianca simultaneously glance at their filthy shoes. They hadn't taken them off, and as result, the front floor of White's house was dirt-caked and frankly quite gross-looking.

"Nure's going to hate you guys for this one..."

* * *

N stands in the backyard in an aloof way, wondering whether it's safe to go back inside.

On one hand, he really has no business listening in on their conversation, but on the other hand, he shouldn't be forced out of place by a rather stoic man.

White's Oshawott, Nure, waddles up to him and glares up at him. She chatters, and N understands it as, _"What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be with White?"_

N smiles at her, despite the evident harshness in her voice, and glances to the back door. The Joltik, Zilt, and Kage sit pressed up against it, obviously listening in, while the calm Deino, Ahi, lies by a deep-sleeping Rupture. "I wish I could be, friend."

_"Don't call me that, you green-quilled human,"_ Nure hisses abruptly, thumping her thick tail on the ground in an aggressive manner. _"I am not, nor will I ever wish to be, your friend."_

N is taken quite aback. Sure, he knew the Oshawott initially distrusted him, but to hate him enough to not want to befriend him? N has never heard that from any Pokemon before.

Ahi perks his head up abruptly, quickly catching N's attention and making him wonder what exactly the Deino has picked up on.

"N? Where are you?"

N sighs and starts to walk back to the back door, causing the not-sp-sublte eavesdroppers to scatter. Kage hisses bad-temperedly, curling his fluffy tail around himself with an air of disdain, as Zilt twitchs agitatedly on his dark fur.

When he reaches the door, it slides right open, as if on cue. White stands in the doorway, looking just slightly startled, before half-smiling hesitantly. "Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you went, since I didn't see you..."

N quietly scrutinizes her as she rambles on, feeling that terrible tugging sense of déjà vu as he looks over her face with meticulous attention to her every feature.

_What is it that looks so familiar about her?_ N realizes, moments too late, that he is studying her so much that she actually goes quiet. The awkward silence is quickly broken by a surprisingly strong squawk of pain.

"Oh, Kizuna!" White exclaims as she rushes back into the house, leaving N blinking in the remnant of her dust. He slowly follows her footsteps, Kage and the others at his heels, to find her cooing to and petting the injured Pidove like a doting mother.

"What did the two people come to talk to you about?" N asks, painfully blunt.

White looks at him. "You mean Cheren and Bianca?"

"...Yes."

"They asked me to go with them on their Pokémon journey, "White says, beginning to gingerly lift Kizuna's wing. "I said no."

N instantly feels relieved. "Why not?"

"I have Kizuna to take care of...and I have other things to wrap up here. By the way, do you see any mud left in the hallway?"

With a quick glance about, N answers, "No. That's all they wanted?"

White shrugs. "Well, since I refused, they at least made me promise to go with them to Professor Juniper's lab later."

N scrunches up his nose. "Why?"

White looks at him oddly. "To get their starters, obviously. They also made me promise to have a battle with them sometime, but—"

"You declined, right?" N asks expectantly, and White blinks at him confusedly.

"Huh? Why would I do that?"

N frowns. "Battles are...very..." he finds his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth as he awkwardly mumbles lowly to himself.

"Yes?"

He slowly shakes his head, his ponytail following his movement. Clearly, his assumptions on this girl's ideals was quite off the target. "Never mind." He says, his words running together into a jumbled mess.

White quirks a skeptical eyebrow, but doesn't say anything, as N fixated on a precise spot on the floor with his hollowed grey eyes.

Suddenly, Kizuna's squawks becomes alarmingly pained under her gentle touch. Worried, White looks back down at the bird-Pokémon, who is practically thrashing his good wing about in a frenzy.

Kizuna keens as if he has been flying for a very long distance, and his burn continues to ooze puss, though it should have at least stopped bleeding by now. Once again, the odd charring on the wing catches White's eye. It looks more like a poison infection, with a distinctly purple tinge to the afflicted wing. Of course, it can be just a trick of her sight, but she has a feeling it's more than her eyes playing cruel jokes on her. Nure waddles to White's side as she keeps a watchful glare, fueled with scorn, on N.

N shifts those dead eyes towards her. "Don't be annoyed with me."

White blinks, having to listen hard to decipher the words he breathes. How can someone talk so fast all the time? Doesn't he get a sore tongue from such ridiculously high-speed chatter? "It's fine."

Kizuna coos more softly this time, and White is pleased to see that liquid has stopped oozing from the wound, with an unpleasantly yellow crust forming around the brunt of the injury.

"Nure, please come here. And get Zilt as well," White orders, motioning to the Oshawott, who obediently calls outside and clambers up to her perch on a chair at the table by White's arm. With a few clipped Oshawott clicks and grunts, Zilt scurries into the room and onto the table with lightining speed.

"Okay, Nure, you wash the wound. And be gentle about it; the wound has just crusted." White looks at Zilt next. "And after she's done, you can apply a sturdy String Shot around the wing."

White steps back to let the two teammates work their magic, pauses, and disappears out the back door. N is quietly awed at the harmony of the duo; they've clearly been working together for a while.

In a hurry, White comes back in with a few berries clutched in her hand, including an Oran, a Rawst and one N doesn't recognize. She mashes them up in a bowl much like before, and after Zilt finishes applying his strong bandage made of his own webs, forces the mush into the beak of the Pidove. She breathes out softly, evdiently relieved when the Pidove swallows the paste, albeit tentatively, and steps away from the Pokemon with a sigh.

White looks at the clock and mutters darkly to herself. N blinks at this sudden change in her ever-volatile mood, confused. "What is it?"

"I have to go meet Cheren and Bianca. Right now!

* * *

**Tempest Bound: **_Long wait. Gosh. Sorry! And it seems like N isn't very…__happy about the current situation. And poor Kizuna!_

_**Harvest Dragon:** Hello readers! No, I'm not dead! :,D _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Side note, He's the Boss readers, thank you for your patience! You shall be rewarded, promise~_


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